Technical Field
[0001] The present subject matter relates generally to a virtual environment, and more particularly,
but not exclusively, to a method and a system for resolving one or more anomaly events
occurring in the virtual environment in real-time.
Background
[0002] Generally, a virtual environment facilitates users to connect to virtual desktops
that are provisioned using servers located in remote data centres. The virtual environment
is a complex system architecture that involves multiple data communication layers.
User experience in a scenario including the virtual environment is crucial. The user
experience depends on multiple factors such as connectivity, bandwidth, congestion,
traffic, resource overuse and the like. These factors may give rise to anomaly events
in the virtual environment such as adversely impacted desktop responsiveness, poor
session response time, poor graphics quality and responsiveness, connectivity issues,
ill-optimized device configuration and the like. The virtual desktops generally are
shared with a group of users in the virtual environment and in many cases, multiple
instances of a single application may be provided to multiple users. Therefore, maintaining
a good user experience and guiding the user through remedial actions to overcome the
anomaly events in such a shared environment may be challenging. As a result of which,
the end users may raise numerous service request tickets for numerous issues and the
service request tickets may pile up quickly based on virtual desktop user count, thus
making it unmanageable over time. Also, a substantial amount of time and effort of
a helpdesk team may be utilized for implementing the same repetitive remedial measures
for the same/similar repetitive anomalies occurring for multiple users in the virtual
environment. These scenarios in the virtual environment trigger a need for virtual
assistance tools that could measure the user experience and provide real-time solutions
to improve the user experience. However, traditional virtual assistance tools possess
limited capabilities in measuring the user experience of individual users under study.
[0003] Currently, there are some inbuilt tools such as task manager, performance monitor
and the like that are available as an integral part of an operating system to report
extreme conditions of a desktop. However, these inbuilt tools may be time intensive
and not appropriate for the users operating in the virtual environment. Also, these
inbuilt tools are not virtual environment related solutions that understand a remote
desktop environment to avoid inconvenience faced by the users. The existing techniques
provide a method for establishing Quality of Experience (QoE) measurements and metrics
for different types of actual user activities over Internet Protocol (IP) networks.
This technique further considers realistic user behaviour by defining a set of behaviour
profiles and methods for testing edge devices by embedding meta-commands in normal
network packets. However, this technique may not be suitable for the virtual environment
and may require user interference for most part of the solution, thereby leading to
ticket pile up scenarios until the user is provided with personal attention to resolve
the issue. Few other existing techniques provide a method for dynamically re-allocating
the user to an alternative virtual desktop pool. In this technique, a virtual application
may monitor relevant parameters related to resource utilization and the user experience.
Based on the monitored parameters, this technique may involve re-allocating or migrating
the user to an alternative virtual desktop pool to provide a better user experience.
Any further changes observed in activities of the user may reflect in further re-allocation
of the user to another alternative virtual desktop pool to ensure good user experience.
However, this technique does not resolve the issues in the virtual environment, but
instead switches the user between multiple virtual desktops to provide good user experience.
[0004] WO 2016/191639 discloses an automatic anomaly detection and resolution system.
[0005] US 2014/068348 discloses a system and method for intelligent troubleshooting of in-service customer
experience issues in communication networks.
[0006] WO 2013/097176 discloses a user experience index monitoring method and monitoring virtual machine.
Summary
[0007] One or more shortcomings of the prior art may be overcome, and additional advantages
may be provided through the present disclosure. Additional features and advantages
may be realized through the techniques of the present disclosure. Other embodiments
and aspects of the disclosure are described in detail herein and are considered a
part of the claimed disclosure.
[0008] Disclosed herein is a method of resolving one or more anomaly events occurring in
a virtual environment in real-time according to claim 1.
[0009] Further, the present disclosure includes a virtual assisting system for resolving
one or more anomaly events occurring in a virtual environment in real time according
to claim 7.
[0010] Furthermore, the present disclosure includes a non-transitory computer readable medium
including instructions stored thereon that when processed by at least one processor
causes a virtual assisting system to perform operations according to claim 8.
[0011] Finally, disclosed herein is a computer program product according to claim 9.
[0012] The foregoing summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting.
In addition to the illustrative aspects, embodiments, and features described above,
further aspects, embodiments, and features will become apparent by reference to the
drawings and the following detailed description.
Brief Description of the Accompanying Diagrams
[0013] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this
disclosure, illustrate exemplary embodiments and, together with the description, serve
to explain the disclosed principles. In the figures, the left-most digit(s) of a reference
number identifies the figure in which the reference number first appears. The same
numbers are used throughout the figures to reference like features and components.
Some embodiments of system and/or methods in accordance with embodiments of the present
subject matter are now described, by way of example only, and with reference to the
accompanying figures, in which:
[0014] FIG.1 shows an exemplary architecture for resolving one or more anomaly events occurring
in a virtual environment in real-time in accordance with some embodiments of the present
disclosure;
[0015] FIG.2 shows a detailed block diagram of a virtual assisting system for resolving one or
more anomaly events occurring in a virtual environment in real-time in accordance
with some embodiments of the present disclosure;
[0016] FIG.3 shows a flowchart illustrating a method of resolving one or more anomaly events occurring
in a virtual environment in real-time in accordance with some embodiments of the present
disclosure; and
[0017] FIG.4 is a block diagram of an exemplary computer system for implementing embodiments consistent
with the present disclosure.
[0018] It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that any block diagrams herein
represent conceptual views of illustrative systems embodying the principles of the
present subject matter. Similarly, it will be appreciated that any flow charts, flow
diagrams, state transition diagrams, pseudo code, and the like represent various processes
which may be substantially represented in computer readable medium and executed by
a computer or processor, whether or not such computer or processor is explicitly shown.
Detailed Description
[0019] In the present document, the word "exemplary" is used herein to mean "serving as
an example, instance, or illustration." Any embodiment or implementation of the present
subject matter described herein as "exemplary" is not necessarily to be construed
as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments.
[0020] While the disclosure is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms,
specific embodiment thereof has been shown by way of example in the drawings and will
be described in detail below. It should be understood, however that it is not intended
to limit the disclosure to the forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the disclosure
is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternative falling within the scope
of the disclosure.
[0021] The terms "comprises", "comprising", "includes" or any other variations thereof,
are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a setup, device or method
that includes a list of components or steps does not include only those components
or steps but may include other components or steps not expressly listed or inherent
to such setup or device or method. In other words, one or more elements in a system
or apparatus proceeded by "comprises... a" does not, without more constraints, preclude
the existence of other elements or additional elements in the system or method.
[0022] Disclosed herein are a method and a system for resolving one or more anomaly events
occurring in a virtual environment in real-time using a virtual assisting system.
The present disclosure dynamically captures and interprets real-time anomaly events
that affect user experience in the virtual environment and performs self-healing/auto-implementation
of one or more actions to resolve the anomaly events dynamically. The term "anomaly
event" as used herein preferably refers to a condition in the virtual environment
that adversely affects the user experience for a user of the virtual environment.
The condition may reside in the hardware, software and/or network infrastructure that
implements or supports the virtual environment. The term "virtual assisting system"
as used herein preferably refers to hardware and/or software that is configured to
perform the methods disclosed herein, in order to automatically resolve an anomaly
event in a virtual environment. The virtual assisting system may comprise a server.
Although, in the present disclosure, the method of resolving one or more anomaly events
occurring in a virtual environment in real-time is described in conjunction with the
server, the method can also be implemented in various computing systems/devices, other
than the server. The virtual assisting system may initially identify one or more trigger
points in relation to the one or more anomaly events that affect user experience in
the virtual environment by continuously monitoring one or more predefined trigger
parameters. The one or more trigger points may be potential areas that impact user
experience in the virtual environment. As an example, based on the continuous monitoring,
the virtual assisting system may identify deviation of a predefined trigger parameter
"Network Latency" from its original value. As a result of the deviation, an anomaly
event such as "Excessive delay in receiving data" may occur in the virtual environment.
Therefore, the virtual assisting system may identify the trigger point corresponding
to the predefined trigger parameter "Network Latency" as "Network". As an example,
the one or more other predefined trigger parameters associated with the trigger point
"Network" may be "bandwidth", "congestion" and the like. Upon identifying the one
or more trigger points, the virtual assisting system may retrieve each of one or more
resolution policies associated with each of the one or more trigger points from a
policy database associated with the virtual assisting system. Each of the one or more
resolution policies include at least one of one or more predefined trigger threshold
values, the one or more predefined trigger parameters associated with each of the
one or more trigger points, one or more metrics and one or more weights associated
with each of the one or more predefined trigger parameters, user experience threshold
value and one or more actions corresponding to the user experience threshold value.
[0023] Based on the one or more metrics and one or more weights recorded for each of the
one or more predefined trigger parameters in each of the one or more resolution policies,
the virtual assisting system may compute a User Experience Index (UXI) value for each
of the one or more trigger points. Based on the UXI value, the virtual assisting system
may select the one or more actions corresponding to each of the one or more trigger
points from each of the one or more resolution policies to resolve the one or more
anomaly events occurring in the virtual environment. Upon identifying the one or more
actions, the virtual assisting system may implement the one or more actions in the
virtual environment, thereby resolving the one or more anomaly events. In a scenario
where the one or more actions are not available due to occurrence of a new anomaly
event, the virtual assisting system may immediately generate one or more new resolution
policies to resolve the new anomaly event. The one or more new resolution policies
thus generated may be first added to the policy database and then may be distributed
to each of one or more remote servers associated with the virtual assisting system
for maintaining a local copy of the one or more new resolution policies. Further,
the virtual assisting system may include the capability to update, add, delete or
modify the one or more resolution policies as per requirement based on self-learning
in the virtual environment. The present disclosure provides an advantage wherein,
repetitive anomalies commonly occurring in the virtual environment for most of the
users are automatically identified based on continuous monitoring and addressed automatically
without the need for the users to raise service tickets. Further, the present disclosure
provides a feature wherein the users may be provided with necessary notifications
in a way customized by the user, when the actions require interference of the users
for resolving the anomaly events. The customization settings may be provided to the
user with respect to audio notifications and visual notifications.
[0024] A description of an embodiment with several components in communication with each
other does not imply that all such components are required. On the contrary a variety
of optional components are described to illustrate the wide variety of possible embodiments
of the invention.
[0025] In the following detailed description of the embodiments of the disclosure, reference
is made to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof, and in which are shown
by way of illustration specific embodiments in which the disclosure may be practiced.
These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the
art to practice the disclosure, and it is to be understood that other embodiments
may be utilized and that changes may be made without departing from the scope of the
present disclosure. The following description is, therefore, not to be taken in a
limiting sense.
[0026] FIG.1 shows an exemplary architecture for resolving one or more anomaly events occurring
in a virtual environment in real-time in accordance with some embodiments of the present
disclosure.
[0027] The architecture
100 includes a remote server
1011 to remote server
101n (collectively referred as one or more remote servers
101), a local computing device
1031 to local computing device
103n (collectively referred as one or more local computing devices
103), user
1051 to user
105n (collectively referred as users
105), a virtual assisting system
107 and a policy database
108. As an example, the one or more remote servers
101 may be computing devices such as laptops, desktops and the like possessing high processing
capabilities. As an example, the one or more local computing devices
103 may be a laptop, a desktop, a mobile, a tablet and the like that are capable of establishing
a virtual environment with the one or more remote servers
101. The one or more remote servers
101 may communicate with the one or more local computing devices
103 associated with users
105 via a communication network (not shown in the
FIG.1). In some embodiments, the communication network may be at least one of a wired communication
network or a wireless communication network. Further, the policy database
108 may be externally associated with the virtual assisting system
107. In some embodiments, the policy database
108 may be configured within the virtual assisting system
107.
[0028] In the virtual environment, the one or more remote servers
101 may run applications and commutations, while the users
105 view and operate the running of the applications and the commutations using the one
or more local computing devices
103 with an illusion that they are actually running on the one or more local computing
devices
103 associated with the users
105. The one or more remote servers
101 may be associated with the virtual assisting system
107 for resolving one or more anomaly events occurring in the virtual environment.
[0029] The virtual assisting system
107 includes a processor
109, an Input/Output (I/O) interface
111 and a memory
113. The processor
109 may continuously monitor one or more predefined trigger parameters causing one or
more anomaly events in the virtual environment. Each of the one or more predefined
trigger parameters may belong to one or more trigger points. In some embodiments,
the one or more trigger points may be potential areas that impact user experience
in the virtual environment. As an example, based on the continuous monitoring, the
processor
109 may identify deviation of a predefined trigger parameter "Network Latency" from its
original value. As a result of the deviation, an anomaly event such as "Excessive
delay in receiving data" may occur in the virtual environment. Therefore, the processor
109 may identify the trigger point corresponding to the predefined trigger parameter
"Network Latency" as "Network". As an example, the one or more predefined trigger
parameters related to the trigger point "Network" may further include "bandwidth",
"congestion" and the like. Similarly, if the processor
109 identifies a deviation with respect to one or more predefined parameters such as
"response time", "waiting time", "turnaround time" and the like, then the trigger
point may be identified as "System performance" based on the anomaly events occurring
due to the deviation in the one or more predefined trigger parameters. Further, the
processor
109 may continuously compare values associated with each of the one or more predefined
trigger parameters with predefined trigger threshold values. In some embodiments,
the predefined trigger threshold values correspond to the ideal values of each of
the one or more predefined trigger parameters, which when deviated may cause occurrence
of the one or more anomaly events. Based on the comparison, the processor
109 may identify the one or more trigger points when a deviation is detected in the values
associated with each of the one or more predefined trigger parameters.
[0030] Upon identifying the one or more trigger points, the processor
109 retrieves, through the I/O Interface
111, each of one or more resolution policies associated with each of the one or more trigger
points from the policy database
108. Each of the one or more resolution policies may indicate a solution to resolve the
one or more anomaly events based on certain conditions. In some embodiments, the one
or more resolution policies may include, but not limited to, the one or more predefined
trigger threshold values, the one or more predefined trigger parameters associated
with each of the one or more trigger points, one or more metrics and one or more weights
associated with each of the one or more predefined trigger parameters, user experience
threshold value and one or more actions corresponding to the user experience threshold
value.
[0031] The processor
109 may retrieve the one or more metrics and the one or more weights associated with
each of the one or more predefined trigger parameters from each of the one or more
resolution policies, based on the values associated with each of the one or more predefined
trigger parameters. As an example, if the "waiting time" varies between 1-3 seconds,
then the metric associated with the predefined trigger parameter "waiting time" may
be "1". As an example, the weight associated with the predefined trigger parameter
"waiting time" may be "3". In some embodiments, the weight associated with the one
or more predefined trigger parameters may be dynamic in nature. The processor
109 may compute a User Experience Index (UXI) value for each of the one or more trigger
points by correlating each of the one or more metrics and each of the one or more
weights retrieved from each of the one or more resolution policies. The UXI value
of each of the one or more trigger points indicates respective impact of each of the
one or more trigger points identified in the virtual environment, on the user experience.
The processor
109 may compare the UXI value with the user experience threshold value provided in each
of the one or more resolution policies. In some embodiments, the user experience threshold
value corresponds to an ideal value that indicates level of the respective impact
of each of the one or more trigger points on the user experience. Based on the comparison,
the processor
109 may select the one or more actions from each of the one or more resolution policies
to resolve the one or more anomaly events caused due to occurrence of the one or more
trigger points. Upon identifying the one or more actions, the processor
109 may implement the one or more actions in the virtual environment to resolve the one
or more anomaly events. In some embodiments, the one or more actions may be at least
one of a self-implementing type or a user intervention type. The self-implementing
type of the one or more actions may include resolving the one or more anomaly events
by the processor
109 without intervention of the user
105. The user intervention type of the one or more actions may include resolving the one
or more anomaly events with intervention of the user
105. The processor
109 may achieve the user intervention by sending a notification to the user
105. In some embodiments, the notification may be at least one of an audio notification
or a visual notification. As an example, the audio notification may be an alarm, voice
instructions and the like. As an example, the visual notifications may be pop-ups
on screen of the one or more local computing devices
103 associated with the users
105 and the like.
[0032] In a scenario where the one or more actions are not available due to occurrence of
new anomaly events, the processor
109 may immediately generate one or more new resolution policies to resolve the new anomaly
events. Further, the processor
109 may add the new anomaly events and the corresponding one or more new resolution policies
to the policy database
108. Furthermore, the processor
109 may distribute the one or more new resolution policies to each of the one or more
remote servers
101 associated with the virtual assisting system
107 for maintaining a local copy of the one or more new resolution policies in the memory
113. In some embodiments, the processor
109 may update, add, delete or modify the one or more resolution policies as per requirement
based on self-learning in the virtual environment.
[0033] FIG.2 shows a detailed block diagram of a virtual assistance system for resolving one or
more anomaly events occurring in a virtual environment in real-time in accordance
with some embodiments of the present disclosure.
[0034] In some implementations, the virtual assisting system
107 may include data
203 and modules
205. As an example, the data
203 is stored in the memory
113 configured in the virtual assisting system
107 as shown in the
FIG.2. In one embodiment, the data
203 may include a trigger point data
207, a resolution policy data
209, a User Experience Index (UXI) data
213 and other data
225. In the illustrated
FIG.2, modules
205 are described herein in detail.
[0035] In some embodiments, the data
203 may be stored in the memory
113 in form of various data structures. Additionally, the data
203 can be organized using data models, such as relational or hierarchical data models.
The other data
225 may store data, including temporary data and temporary files, generated by the modules
205 for performing the various functions of the virtual assisting system
107.
[0036] In some embodiments, the data
203 stored in the memory
113 may be processed by the modules
205 of the virtual assisting system
107. The modules
205 may be stored within the memory
113. In an example, the modules
205 communicatively coupled to the processor
109 configured in the virtual assisting system
107, may also be present outside the memory
113 as shown in
FIG.2 and implemented as hardware. As used herein, the term modules refer to an application
specific integrated circuit (ASIC), an electronic circuit, a processor (shared, dedicated,
or group) and memory that execute one or more software or firmware programs, a combinational
logic circuit, and/or other suitable components that provide the described functionality.
[0037] In some embodiments, the modules
205 may include, for example, a trigger point identifying module
231, a policy retrieving module
233, a computing module
235, a notification module
236, an action implementing module
237, a resolution policy generation module
239 and other modules
243. The other modules
243 may be used to perform various miscellaneous functionalities of the virtual assisting
system
107. It will be appreciated that such aforementioned modules
205 may be represented as a single module or a combination of different modules.
[0038] In some embodiments, the trigger point identifying module
231 may identify one or more trigger points in relation to one or more anomaly events
affecting user experience in the virtual environment. In some embodiments, the one
or more anomaly events may occur due to deviation of one or more predefined trigger
parameters associated with the one or more trigger points, from their original values.
As an example, when the predefined trigger parameter "Network Latency" is identified
to be deviating from the original value, the anomaly event occurring due to the deviation
may be "Excessive delay in receiving data". In some embodiments, the one or more trigger
points may be potential areas that impact user experience in the virtual environment.
As an example, the one or more trigger points may be capacity related conditions,
performance errors, security and the like. The one or more trigger points may be stored
as the trigger point data
207. In some embodiments, the one or more trigger points may originate from system resources
present in the virtual environment. The one or more trigger points may be classified
into, but not limited to, compute type such as those originating from virtual Central
Processing Unit (CPUs) and the like, storage type such as those originating from storage
drives or Logical Unit Number (LUNs) and the like, network type such as those originating
from virtual Network Interface Card (NICs) and the like, and miscellaneous type such
as those originating from sources like applications, external devices mapped to local
computing devices
103, operating system managing the virtual environment and the like. Few exemplary trigger
points are as shown in the below
Table 1.
Table 1
SL.NO |
TRIGGER POINT |
EXAMPLE |
1 |
Capacity related conditions |
- Low free disk storage space |
2 |
Performance specific errors |
- Slow response |
|
|
- High waiting time |
|
|
- Quota exceeding |
3 |
Application/Service events |
- Application crashes |
4 |
Operating System events |
- Boot start-up errors |
5 |
Service Level Agreement (SLA) mismatch errors |
- Error in logon time |
|
- Application launch time, |
|
|
- Desktop response time and the |
|
|
like mentioned in the SLA |
6 |
Security |
- Multiple authentication failures |
|
|
- Desktop delivery port blocking |
|
|
- Attempt to manage remotely |
|
|
without proper certificate. |
|
|
- Firewall/GPO violations |
7 |
Failed interactions with desktop delivery system |
- Connections with virtual desktops |
8 |
Network |
- Low network bandwidth |
|
|
- Slow network connection |
|
|
- High packet loss |
9 |
Virtual Desktop delivery protocol related issues |
- Higher Independent Computing Architecture (ICA)/ PC-over-IP (PCoIP)/ Remote Graphics
Software (RGS) latency |
10 |
Failed interactions with external systems |
- Shared storage paths |
|
- Enterprise network shares |
|
|
- Backend services |
|
|
- Cloud storage |
[0039] In some embodiments, the trigger point identifying module 231 may continuously monitor
one or more predefined trigger parameters causing the one or more anomaly events in
the virtual environment. Each of the one or more predefined trigger parameters may
belong to the one more trigger points. As an example, if the trigger point is "Network",
then the one or more predefined trigger parameters related to the trigger point "Network"
may be "network latency", "bandwidth", "congestion" and the like. Further, the trigger
point identifying module 231 may continuously compare values associated with each
of the one or more predefined trigger parameters with predefined trigger threshold
values. In some embodiments, the predefined trigger threshold values correspond to
the ideal values of each of the one or more predefined trigger parameters, which when
deviated may cause occurrence of the one or more anomaly events. Based on the comparison,
the trigger point identifying module
231 may identify the one or more trigger points when a deviation is detected in the values
associated with each of the one or more predefined trigger parameters.
[0040] In some embodiments, the policy retrieving module
233 may retrieve each of the one or more resolution policies associated with each of
the one or more trigger points from a policy database
108 associated with the virtual assisting system
107. The one or more resolution policies may be stored as the resolution policy data
209. Each of the one or more resolution policies may indicate a solution to resolve the
one or more anomaly events based on certain conditions. In some embodiments, the one
or more resolution policies may include, but not limited to, the one or more predefined
trigger threshold values, the one or more predefined trigger parameters associated
with each of the one or more trigger points, one or more metrics and one or more weights
associated with each of the one or more predefined trigger parameters, user experience
threshold value and one or more actions corresponding to the user experience threshold
value.
[0041] In some embodiments, the computing module
235 may compute a User Experience Index (UXI) value for each of the one or more trigger
points. The computing module
235 may retrieve each of the one or more metrics and each of the one or more weights
associated with each of the one or more predefined trigger parameters from each of
the one or more resolution policies, based on the values associated with each of the
one or more predefined trigger parameters. The computing module
235 may compute the UXI value of each of the one or more trigger points by correlating
each of the one or more metrics and each of the one or more weights retrieved from
each of the one or more resolution policies using the below
Equation 1. 
[0042] In the above Equation 1,
"i" indicates the current iteration;
"n" indicates the total number of iterations used for computing the UXI value.
[0043] In some embodiments, the UXI value of each of the one or more trigger points may
be stored as the UXI data
213.
[0044] The action implementing module
237 may implement the one or more actions corresponding to the one or more trigger points
in real-time. The action implementing module
237 may compare the UXI value with the user experience threshold value provided in each
of the one or more resolution policies. In some embodiments, the user experience threshold
value corresponds to an ideal value that indicates level of the respective impact
of each of the one or more trigger points on the user experience. Based on the comparison,
the action implementing module
237 may select the one or more actions from each of the one or more resolution policies
to resolve the one or more anomaly events caused due to occurrence of the one or more
trigger points. As an example, the one or more actions may include, but not limited
to, modifying configurations such as increasing resource allocation, cleaning up and
the like, improving uptime such as starting service, rebooting and the like, notifying
representatives such as sending emails, raising service tickets and the like and customized
actions in accordance with settings of the uses
105. In some embodiments, the one or more actions may be at least one of a self-implementing
type or a user intervention type. The self-implementing type of the one or more actions
may include resolving the one or more anomaly events by the action implementing module
237 without intervention of the user
105. The user intervention type of the one or more actions may include resolving the one
or more anomaly events with intervention of the user
105.
[0045] In some embodiments, the notification module
236 may send a notification to the user
105 upon detecting the one or more actions to be the user intervention type. In some
embodiments, the notification may be at least one of an audio notification or a visual
notification. As an example, the audio notification may be an alarm, voice instructions
and the like. As an example, the visual notifications may be pop-up messages on screen
of one or more local computing devices
103 associated with the users
105 and the like. In some embodiments, the notification module
236 may allow the pop-up messages to appear on screens of the one or more local computing
devices
103 for a short period of time and disappear automatically. In some embodiments, duration
for which the pop-up messages should be displayed may be preconfigured to a value
which is sufficient for the users
105 to notice the pop-up messages. Further, the users
105 may be provided with a provision such as customization settings on the one or more
local computing devices
103 to customize manner in which the users
105 wish to receive the notification. As an example, the customizations settings may
include, but are not limited to, muting/unmuting speech messages, selecting gender/language/sound
levels of voice required for audio notifications, stopping/restarting visual feedbacks
and the like. Further, the one or more local computing devices
103 may be provided with local Bots to provide appropriate feedback to the users
105 when required in the virtual environment.
[0046] Further, upon identifying the one or more actions, the action implementing module
237 may implement the one or more actions in the virtual environment based on type of
the one or more actions, to resolve the one or more anomaly events.
[0047] In some embodiments, the resolution policy generation module
239 may generate one or more new resolution policies. In a scenario where the one or
more actions may not be available due to occurrence of new anomaly events, the resolution
policy generation module
239 may analyse the one or more new anomaly events in real-time. Based on the analysis,
the resolution policy generation module
239 may immediately generate one or more new resolution policies to resolve the new anomaly
events. Upon generating the one or more new resolution policies, the resolution policy
generation module
239 may add the new anomaly events and the corresponding one or more new resolution policies
to the policy database
108. Furthermore, the resolution policy generation module
239 may distribute the one or more new resolution policies to each of the one or more
remote servers
101 associated with the virtual assisting system
107 for maintaining a local copy of the one or more new resolution policies in the memory
113. Further, the resolution policy generation module
239 may perform additional functionalities such as updating, adding, deleting or modifying
the one or more resolution policies as per requirement based on self-learning in the
virtual environment.
[0048] Henceforth, the process for resolving one or more anomaly events occurring in a virtual
environment in real-time is explained with the help of one or more examples for better
understanding of the present disclosure. However, the one or more examples should
not be considered as limitation of the present disclosure.
[0049] Consider an exemplary scenario where 3 users
D1, D2 and
D3 are in the virtual environment with one remote server
R1 associated with the virtual assisting system
107. Consider that the 3 users
D1,
D2 and
D3 are using the resources of the remote server
R1 in the virtual environment. This scenario is illustrated by using only a single remote
server
R1. However, any number of remote servers
R1 to
Rn may be associated with the virtual assisting system
107 in the virtual environment. The virtual assisting system
107 is continuously monitoring the one or more predefined trigger parameters in the virtual
environment. Based on the continuous monitoring consider that the virtual assisting
system
107 identified a trigger point "Network" which corresponds to the predefined trigger
parameter "Network latency" for user
D1. The virtual assisting system
107 may retrieve a resolution policy from the policy database
108 that is relevant to the identified trigger point and the predefined trigger parameter.
Based on the resolution policy, the predefined trigger parameter "Network latency"
is associated with a metric and a weight. The metrics associated with the predefined
trigger parameter "Network latency" in the resolution policy may be as indicated in
the below
Table 2.
Table 2
Current value of Network latency |
Metric according to the resolution policy |
Weight according to the resolution policy |
0 - 20ms |
1 |
4 |
21ms - 100ms |
0.8 |
4 |
100ms - 200ms |
0.5 |
4 |
Above 200ms |
0.3 |
4 |
[0050] Consider that for a cycle of 5 minutes, the current value of the predefined trigger
parameter "Network latency" varies between 20ms and 60ms. Therefore, based on the
above
Table 2, the metrics applicable for the predefined trigger parameter "Network latency" are
1 and 0.8. Further, according to the above
Table 2, the weight associated with the predefined trigger parameter "Network latency" is
4. Therefore, the virtual assisting system
107 may compute the
[0051] UXI value for the trigger point "Network" with respect to the predefined trigger
parameter "Network latency" using the
Equation 1. 
[0052] By substituting the above values of the metrics and weights associated with the predefined
trigger parameter "Network latency" in the above
Equation 1, 
[0053] Similarly, the UXI value may be computed for each of the one or more trigger points
to understand the respective impact that each of the one or more trigger points may
have on the user experience in the virtual environment. According to the UXI value,
a corresponding action is provided in the resolution policy which means that based
on the impact of the trigger point on the user experience, the necessary action is
provided in the resolution policy. As an example, the necessary action may indicate
"Close unnecessary bandwidth intensive applications running in the background". Since,
the necessary action is self-implementing type, the virtual assisting system
107 may implement the action corresponding to the UXI value automatically without the
intervention of the user
D1.
[0054] Consider a scenario where the predefined trigger parameter "Network latency" corresponding
to a certain UXI value does not have any action defined in the resolution policy.
In such scenario, the virtual assisting system
107 may generate a new resolution policy comprising the necessary action for the predefined
trigger parameter "Network latency" corresponding to the certain UXI value. Further,
the virtual assisting system
107 may store the new resolution policy in the policy database
108 and may update the one or more resolution policies based on the new resolution policy.
Further, the virtual assisting system
107 may distribute the new resolution policy to remote servers
R1 to
Rn that are associated with the virtual assisting system
107, thereby storing a local copy of the one or more new resolution policies.
[0055] FIG.3 shows a flowchart illustrating a method of resolving one or more anomaly events occurring
in a virtual environment in real-time in accordance with some embodiments of the present
disclosure.
[0056] As illustrated in
FIG.3, the method
300 includes one or more blocks illustrating a method of resolving one or more anomaly
events occurring in a virtual environment in real-time. The method
300 may be described in the general context of computer executable instructions. Generally,
computer executable instructions can include routines, programs, objects, components,
data structures, procedures, modules, and functions, which perform functions or implement
abstract data types.
[0057] The order in which the method
300 is described is not intended to be construed as a limitation, and any number of the
described method blocks can be combined in any order to implement the method
300. Additionally, individual blocks may be deleted from the methods without departing
from the scope of the subject matter described herein. Furthermore, the method
300 can be implemented in any suitable hardware, software, firmware, or combination thereof.
[0058] At
block 301, the method
300 may include identifying, by a processor
109 of the virtual assisting system
107, one or more trigger points in relation to the one or more anomaly events affecting
user experience in the virtual environment. In some embodiments, the one or more trigger
points may be potential areas that impact user experience in the virtual environment.
[0059] At
block 303, the method
300 may include retrieving, by the processor
109, each of the one or more resolution policies associated with each of the one or more
trigger points from a policy database
108 associated with the virtual assisting system
107. Each of the one or more resolution policies present may indicate a solution to resolve
the one or more anomaly events based on certain conditions.
[0060] At
block 305, the method
300 may include, computing, by the processor
109, a User Experience Index (UXI) value for each of the one or more trigger points by
correlating each of one or more metrics and each of one or more weights associated
with each of the one or more trigger points recorded in each of the one or more resolution
policies. The UXI value indicates respective impact of each of the one or more trigger
points identified in the virtual environment, on the user experience.
[0061] At
block 307, the method
300 may include, implementing, by the processor
109, one or more actions corresponding to the one or more trigger points indicated in
each of the one or more resolution policies based on the UXI value to resolve the
one or more anomaly events occurring in the virtual environment. In some embodiments,
the processor
109 may compare the UXI value with the user experience threshold value provided in the
one or more resolution policies. In some embodiments, the user experience threshold
value corresponds to an ideal value that indicates level of the respective impact
of each of the one or more trigger points on the user experience. Based on the comparison,
the processor
109 may select the one or more actions from each of the one or more resolution policies
to resolve the one or more anomaly events caused due to occurrence of the one or more
trigger points. In some embodiments, the one or more actions may be at least one of
a self-implementing type or a user intervention type. The self-implementing type of
the one or more actions may include resolving the one or more anomaly events by the
processor
109 without intervention of the user
105. The user intervention type of the one or more actions may include resolving the one
or more anomaly events with intervention of the user
105. The processor
109 may achieve the user intervention by sending a notification to the user
105. In some embodiments, the notification may be at least one of an audio notification
or a visual notification.
[0062] FIG.4 is a block diagram of an exemplary computer system for implementing embodiments consistent
with the present disclosure.
[0063] In some embodiments,
FIG.4 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary computer system
400 for implementing embodiments consistent with the present invention. In some embodiments,
the computer system
400 can be virtual assisting system
107 that is used for resolving one or more anomaly events occurring in a virtual environment
in real-time. The computer system
400 may include a central processing unit ("CPU" or "processor")
402. The processor
402 may include at least one data processor for executing program components for executing
user or system-generated business processes. A user may include a person, a person
using a device such as such as those included in this invention, or such a device
itself. The processor
402 may include specialized processing units such as integrated system (bus) controllers,
memory management control units, floating point units, graphics processing units,
digital signal processing units, etc.
[0064] The processor
402 may be disposed in communication with input devices
411 and output devices
412 via I/O interface
401. The I/O interface
401 may employ communication protocols/methods such as, without limitation, audio, analog,
digital, stereo, IEEE-1394, serial bus, Universal Serial Bus (USB), infrared, PS/2,
BNC, coaxial, component, composite, Digital Visual Interface (DVI), high-definition
multimedia interface (HDMI), Radio Frequency (RF) antennas, S-Video, Video Graphics
Array (VGA), IEEE 802.n /b/g/n/x, Bluetooth, cellular (e.g., Code-Division Multiple
Access (CDMA), High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA+), Global System For Mobile Communications
(GSM), Long-Term Evolution (LTE), WiMax, or the like), etc.
[0065] Using the I/O interface
401, computer system
400 may communicate with input devices
411 and output devices
412.
[0066] In some embodiments, the processor
402 may be disposed in communication with a communication network
409 via a network interface
403. The network interface
403 may communicate with the communication network
409. The network interface
403 may employ connection protocols including, without limitation, direct connect, Ethernet
(e.g., twisted pair 10/100/1000 Base T), Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol
(TCP/IP), token ring, IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/x, etc. Using the network interface
403 and the communication network
409, the computer system
400 may communicate with one or more remote servers
410 (410a up to
410n), one or more local computing devices
414 (414a up to
414n) of users
105 and a policy database
413. The communication network
409 can be implemented as one of the different types of networks, such as intranet or
Local Area Network (LAN) and such within the organization. The communication network
409 may either be a dedicated network or a shared network, which represents an association
of the different types of networks that use a variety of protocols, for example, Hypertext
Transfer Protocol (HTTP), Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP),
Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), etc., to communicate with each other. Further,
the communication network
409 may include a variety of network devices, including routers, bridges, servers, computing
devices, storage devices, etc. The one or more remote servers
410 may include, but not limited to, a laptop and a desktop. The one or more local computing
devices
414 may include, but not limited to, a laptop, a desktop, a tablet and a mobile. In some
embodiments, the processor
402 may be disposed in communication with a memory
405 (e.g., RAM, ROM, etc. not shown in
FIG.4) via a storage interface
404. The storage interface
404 may connect to memory
405 including, without limitation, memory drives, removable disc drives, etc., employing
connection protocols such as Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA), Integrated
Drive Electronics (IDE), IEEE-1394, Universal Serial Bus (USB), fibre channel, Small
Computer Systems Interface (SCSI), etc. The memory drives may further include a drum,
magnetic disc drive, magneto-optical drive, optical drive, Redundant Array of Independent
Discs (RAID), solid-state memory devices, solid-state drives, etc.
[0067] The memory
405 may store a collection of program or database components, including, without limitation,
a user interface
406, an operating system
407, a web browser
408 etc. In some embodiments, the computer system
400 may store user/application data, such as the data, variables, records, etc. as described
in this invention. Such databases may be implemented as fault-tolerant, relational,
scalable, secure databases such as Oracle or Sybase.
[0068] The operating system
407 may facilitate resource management and operation of the computer system
400. Examples of operating systems include, without limitation, Apple Macintosh OS X,
UNIX, Unix-like system distributions (e.g., Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD),
FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, etc.), Linux distributions (e.g., Red Hat, Ubuntu, Kubuntu,
etc.), International Business Machines (IBM) OS/2, Microsoft Windows (XP, Vista/7/8,
etc.), Apple iOS, Google Android, Blackberry Operating System (OS), or the like. The
User interface
406 may facilitate display, execution, interaction, manipulation, or operation of program
components through textual or graphical facilities. For example, user interfaces may
provide computer interaction interface elements on a display system operatively connected
to the computer system
400, such as cursors, icons, check boxes, menus, scrollers, windows, widgets, etc. Graphical
User Interfaces (GUIs) may be employed, including, without limitation, Apple Macintosh
operating systems' Aqua, IBM OS/2, Microsoft Windows (e.g., Aero, Metro, etc.), Unix
X-Windows, web interface libraries (e.g., ActiveX, Java, Javascript, AJAX, HTML, Adobe
Flash, etc.), or the like.
[0069] In some embodiments, the computer system
400 may implement the web browser
408 stored program components. The web browser
408 may be a hypertext viewing application, such as Microsoft Internet Explorer, Google
Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, etc. Secure web browsing may be provided using
Secure Hypertext Transport Protocol (HTTPS) secure sockets layer (SSL), Transport
Layer Security (TLS), etc. Web browsers may utilize facilities such as AJAX, DHTML,
Adobe Flash, JavaScript, Java, Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), etc. In
some embodiments, the computer system
400 may implement a mail server stored program component. The mail server may be an Internet
mail server such as Microsoft Exchange, or the like. The mail server may utilize facilities
such as Active Server Pages (ASP), ActiveX, American National Standards Institute
(ANSI) C++/C#, Microsoft .NET, CGI scripts, Java, JavaScript, PERL, PHP, Python, WebObjects,
etc. The mail server may utilize communication protocols such as Internet Message
Access Protocol (IMAP), Messaging Application Programming Interface (MAPI), Microsoft
Exchange, Post Office Protocol (POP), Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), or the
like. In some embodiments, the computer system
400 may implement a mail client stored program component. The mail client may be a mail
viewing application, such as Apple Mail, Microsoft Entourage, Microsoft Outlook, Mozilla
Thunderbird, etc.
[0070] Furthermore, one or more computer-readable storage media may be utilized in implementing
embodiments consistent with the present invention. A computer-readable storage medium
refers to any type of physical memory on which information or data readable by a processor
may be stored. Thus, a computer-readable storage medium may store instructions for
execution by one or more processors, including instructions for causing the processor(s)
to perform steps or stages consistent with the embodiments described herein. The term
"computer-readable medium" should be understood to include tangible items and exclude
carrier waves and transient signals, i.e., non-transitory. Examples include Random
Access Memory (RAM), Read-Only Memory (ROM), volatile memory, non-volatile memory,
hard drives, Compact Disc (CD) ROMs, Digital Video Disc (DVDs), flash drives, disks,
and any other known physical storage media.
[0071] Advantages of the embodiment of the present disclosure are illustrated in the following
paragraphs.
[0072] In some embodiments, the present disclosure provides a method and a system for resolving
one or more anomaly events occurring in a virtual environment in real-time.
[0073] The present disclosure dynamically captures and interprets real-time anomaly events
that affect user experience in the virtual environment and performs self-healing/auto-implementation
of one or more actions to resolve the anomaly events dynamically.
[0074] The present disclosure provides a feature wherein repetitive anomalies commonly occurring
in the virtual environment for most of the users are automatically identified based
on continuous monitoring and addressed automatically without the need for the users
to raise service tickets.
[0075] The present disclosure provides a feature wherein the users may be provided with
necessary notifications in a way customized by the user, when the actions require
interference of the users for resolving the anomaly events.
[0076] The present disclosure provides a feature wherein new resolution policies may be
generated based on self-learning by the virtual assisting system when new anomaly
events arc identified for the first time and subsequently implemented in real-time.
The present disclosure also provides a feature wherein the new resolution policies
thus generated are distributed to one or more remote servers associated with the virtual
assisting system to maintain an updated local copy of the resolution policies.
[0077] A description of an embodiment with several components in communication with each
other does not imply that all such components are required. On the contrary a variety
of optional components are described to illustrate the wide variety of possible embodiments
of the invention.
[0078] When a single device or article is described herein, it will be apparent that more
than one device/article (whether or not they cooperate) may be used in place of a
single device/article. Similarly, where more than one device or article is described
herein (whether or not they cooperate), it will be apparent that a single device/article
may be used in place of the more than one device or article or a different number
of devices/articles may be used instead of the shown number of devices or programs.
The functionality and/or the features of a device may be alternatively embodied by
one or more other devices which are not explicitly described as having such functionality/features.
Thus, other embodiments of the invention need not include the device itself.
[0079] The specification has described a method and a system resolving one or more anomaly
events occurring in a virtual environment in real-time. The illustrated steps are
set out to explain the exemplary embodiments shown, and it should be anticipated that
on-going technological development will change the manner in which particular functions
are performed. These examples are presented herein for purposes of illustration, and
not limitation. Further, the boundaries of the functional building blocks have been
arbitrarily defined herein for the convenience of the description. Alternative boundaries
can be defined so long as the specified functions and relationships thereof are appropriately
performed. Alternatives (including equivalents, extensions, variations, deviations,
etc., of those described herein) will be apparent to persons skilled in the relevant
art(s) based on the teachings contained herein. Such alternatives fall within the
scope of the disclosed embodiments. Also, the words "comprising," "having," "containing,"
and "including," and other similar forms are intended to be equivalent in meaning
and be open-ended in that an item or items following any one of these words is not
meant to be an exhaustive listing of such item or items, or meant to be limited to
only the listed item or items. It must also be noted that as used herein and in the
appended claims, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" include plural references
unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.
[0080] Finally, the language used in the specification has been principally selected for
readability and instructional purposes, and it may not have been selected to delineate
or circumscribe the inventive subject matter. It is therefore intended that the scope
of the invention be limited not by this detailed description, but rather by any claims
that issue on an application based here on. Accordingly, the embodiments of the present
invention are intended to be illustrative, but not limiting, of the scope of the invention,
which is set forth in the following claims.